Improvement in patching- minis bullets



0. D. L'ULL.

Cartridge.

Patented- Dec-Q l, 1863.

NI'IE'D Swans ORRIN D. LULL, OF WATKINS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PA'I'CI-IING- MIN IE BULLETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,761, dated Decemberl, 1863.

To all whom at may concern:

Be it known that I, ORRIN D. LULL, of Watkins, in the county ofSchuyler, and State of New. York, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement .in Cartridges for Fire- Arms; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full and exact description of the same, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan illustrating the form of thewrapper or patch previous to use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of thecomplete cartridge with the ball and wrapper in position, a part of themetal case or shell being broken away to expose the interior.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

The present invention is chiefly intended as an improvement incartridges for use with breech-loading firearms. The leading feature ofnovelty consists in the use of a patch of peculiar form, adapted to wraparound the ball without wrinkling, doubling, or lapping, and otherwiseconstructed and applied so as to prevent the wrapper from stripping offin passing the junction between the end of the cartridge-case and thebore of the piece, as hereinafter explained.

' In order that others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the same, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

The cylindrical cartridge-case L, base-plate M, handle m, and nipple N,may be constructed as described in Letters Patent granted to me on the16th day of June, 1863, or in any other suitable manner.

P represents a conical ball, to the base of which is applied a Wrapper,W, of cloth, skin, or other suitable material, and of peculiar form, toclose the wiudage, lubricate the ball, and prevent leading of thegrooves. The form of the wrapper W previous to use is shown in Fig. 1.It consists essentially of a central part, to, of diameter about equalto the shot, and four, or other suitable number of leaves, w the sum ofwhose width equals the circumference of the shot. 10 represents anaperture in the center ofthe wrapper, the purpose of which is to affordthe gases free access to the cavity of a Minie ball.

Operation: The wrapper is first properly lubricated and then applied tothe ball, with the central part w against the base. The leaves w arethen folded forward so as to completely envelop and surround the largestpart of the ball, as shown in Fig. 2, without overlapping. The ball,thus covered, is then inserted in the front of the cartridge-case, thelatter having been previously supplied with powder. When the piece isdischarged a slight escape of gas around the ball causes the wrapper toadhere closely thereto, and this, together with the avoidance ofprojections on the said wrapper. prevents it catching or strip pingagainst the bore of the gun and causes it to be carried regularlyforward upon and around the ball, so that the latter is lubricatedduring its entire passage through the bore, lessens the friction of theball on the barrel, prevents lead. separating from the ball and clingingto the grooves, and wipes out the bore at every shot, thereby renderingthe shooting more steady, accurate, and powerful, as well as enablingthe gun to be used longer without cleanin Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

The use, in a cartridge-case, of any suitable form of a patch orwrapper, XV, constructed with a central aperture, 10 and a number ofleaves, w w w adapted for wrapping around the base of the ball withoutwrinkling, doubling, or lapping, all as hereinbefore described, and forthe objects specified.

ORBIN D. LULL.

Witnesses:

JOHN HOLLETT, SAMUEL W. CASS.

